Chapter-21

                                    

                                          
As twilight fell, Jonas outstretched his right hand, gesturing us to put our hands on top of his. Seeing Kelvin make no response, I put my hand first. We both looked at him, waiting for his response.
He was staring at me, analyzing me as if I was his next biggest case.
After a couple of seconds, he finally put his hand on top of mine. Jonas put his other hand on top of Kelvin's before whispering,
"To a new journey."
Kelvin and I gazed at him before our eyes finally settled on each other. We both were having a silent war through our eyes, which clearly said 'With this person? Never'.
Yet, we didn't take away our hands, the big reason being that Jonas wouldn't let us do so, with both his hands being at the top and bottom.
"Kids, will you like to have a cup of tea with this old lady?" a voice came from behind.
We parted our hands and looked around to find Mrs. Arabella. It was the first time she called me to her house. 
We jogged to her house, almost shivering from the cold. We settled down on three wooden chairs surrounding a mini wooden table where four cups of warm green tea were served. Mrs. Arabella brought a towel from the inside, which I assumed was for us. To my surprise, she started wiping Bruno with the towel, making sure every bit of his fur was completely dry.
No doubt that she loved animals more than humans.
We grabbed our cups of tea after she came back and settled down on another wooden chair.
"I loved to drench in the rain too, once upon a time," Mrs. Arabella narrated as she reminisced about the old days.
"Ah, times! You kids reminded me of those beautiful days."
We three sipped on our tea as she continued the stories of her young age. I was quivering from cold, and taking notice of that, Mrs. Arabella brought a shawl of hers and wrapped it around me. I thanked her as she lit the furnace. After about half an hour, Kelvin and Jonas rose up to go, saying that they had some work. They were probably bored of listening to her stories; well I was too, but I supposed it would seem rude if the three of us left together, so I decided to linger with Bruno for a while longer. It kind of felt good to be with her too.
"What's your name?" she asked me for the first time since I came.
"Amyra," I answered with a smile.
She eyed me suspiciously, just the way she did when we had encountered each other for the first time.
"I know that name, but I can't remember from where."
I could say from the expression on her face that she was trying her best to recall.
"Old age you know, can't remember stuff," she sighed at last.
"It's okay," I assured her with a faint smile.
"Curiously, I also have this feeling that I've seen you somewhere before too, but I can't remember where. That means I'm getting old already!" I said cheerfully to lighten up the atmosphere. 
We both shared a giggle at that.
"There's the cat you had given me," she said, pointing towards a gigantic basket adorned with comfortable blankets inside which four cats were slumbering peacefully.
I chuckled as I recognized Meow on the far left. The cat couldn't have gotten a better owner.
"Oh how much I loved that one!" Mrs. Arabella remarked.
There was a clicking noise from the oven beside, to which she got up and took out her freshly baked potatoes and bread bowl soup. The aroma itself was so mesmerising!